ATLANTA — For the past year, the building, once home to the Atlanta Medical Center, has sat largely empty on the outskirts of downtown.
The former Level 1 trauma center — once a vital part of Atlanta's healthcare system — is now marked with blank signs and "for lease" advertisements.
Currently, there is a moratorium on development for the former hospital site. Atlanta council members will decide whether to extend it by 180 days on Monday.
"People have to have access... to medicine. People have to have access to health care," Atlanta District 5 City Councilwoman Liliana Bakhtiari said. "Right now, we are not providing that for them. "
The current moratorium pauses new applications for rezonings, building permits, land disturbance permits, special use permits, special administrative permits, subdivisions, replattings and lot consolidations for any project on the site.
Bakhtiari said she would support another 180 extension but hoped it would be the last. She said she has spoken with the property owner, Wellstar, and they are amenable to doing something health-related.
"What needs to happen now is that the city — because we are the ones... who ask for this moratorium because we are the ones who legislated it — we also need to take more of a leadership role in pushing them and recruiting the health care providers that we want to see here," she said. "I don't expect the entire acreage to be converted into a hospital... but something must absolutely be wellness dedicated because people deserve access to health care."
In August, Wellstar told 11Alive it's working with city leaders to determine the next steps for the AMC site.
“We are committed to a thoughtful process to determine the best use for the future of these sites," Wellstar previously said. "We continue to talk with members of the community and evaluate potential solutions. We do not currently have plans for the sites and we are hopeful for a solution that benefits the community.“